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Abstract
Simple SummaryOrganic dairy cows were used to evaluate the effect of two pasture production systems on milk, fat, and protein production, somatic cell score, milk urea nitrogen, body weight, body condition score, and activity and rumination. Milk production increased when cows grazed sorghum-sudangrass compared to when they grazed perennial grasses and legumes. Warm-season annual grasses may be incorporated into grazing systems for organic dairy cattle while maintaining milk production and components.Organic dairy cows were used to evaluate the effect of two organic pasture production systems (temperate grass species and warm-season annual grasses and cool-season annuals compared with temperate grasses only) across two grazing seasons (May to October of 2014 and 2015) on milk production, milk components (fat, protein, milk urea nitrogen (MUN), somatic cell score (SCS)), body weight, body condition score (BCS), and activity and rumination (min/day). Cows were assigned to two pasture systems across the grazing season at an organic research dairy in Morris, Minnesota. Pasture System 1 was cool-season perennials (CSP) and Pasture System 2 was a combination of System 1 and warm-season grasses and cool-season annuals. System 1 and System 2 cows had similar milk production (14.7 and 14.8 kg d−1), fat percentage (3.92% vs. 3.80%), protein percentage (3.21% vs. 3.17%), MUN (12.5 and 11.5 mg dL−1), and SCS (4.05 and 4.07), respectively. Cows in System 1 had greater daily rumination (530 min/day) compared to cows in System 2 (470 min/day). In summary, warm-season annual grasses may be incorporated into grazing systems for pastured dairy cattle.
Highlights
There has been an increased demand for organic dairy products due to interest in regenerative agriculture and grazing, as well as animal welfare concerns associated with dairy production systems [1]
Pasture is the primary source of forage for organic dairies, and organic dairy cattle are required to have at least 120 d of grazing and 30% of their daily dry matter intake must come from pasture [3]
This study evaluated cool-season perennials (CSP) and warm-season annual grasses (WSA) across 12 specific pastures, and individual pastures were divided into replicated paddocks for grazing of lactating dairy cattle
Summary
There has been an increased demand for organic dairy products due to interest in regenerative agriculture and grazing, as well as animal welfare concerns associated with dairy production systems [1]. To create an extended forage supply, Ball et al [5] recommended diversifying a pasture system to include warm-season grasses in the summer and cool-season grasses and legumes in the fall. These recommendations have never been evaluated under organic grazing conditions, and this was the overall objective of this research project
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